I've told my rather young doctor that I have tinnitus in my left ear. I've also described how itchy and tickly it has been for a long time - before the tinnitus developed. He has now taken a look in my left ear and says I have an outer ear infection. That makes sense to me, I'd guessed as much. He's given me some Otomize ear spray to use 3 times a day. He thinks it might help...
Ever cautious, I'm scared of making my tinnitus worse - is Otomize safe to use?
A little online research has only revealed a few self medicating Americans saying Otomize is bad news - but I tend towards the belief that American health forums are far from authoritative!
Written by
Don_Alejandro
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It isn't clear why the advisory is there on the patient information forms which accompany the medication. It could be an excess of caution on the part of a company not wishing to incur legal action from product users who identify a raised level of tinnitus after usage - as medicine lacks a way to measure tinnitus objectively, the guidance can't be as a result of a cause and effect relationship which has been identified.
The major thing which would give me pause is that Otomize contains an aminoglycoside antibiotic - medicines.org.uk/emc/produc... - which are known to have ototoxic or ear-damaging effects, which can potentially result in hearing loss - healthyhearing.com/report/5....
There's an advisory on medications and tinnitus on our website which goes into further detail - the section on aminoglycosides is the relevant one which I would look over: tinnitus.org.uk/drugs#:~:te....
There's no mention of tinnitus in the package leaflet or within the medicines.org link you posted.
However there are numerous posts on the internet claiming Otomize has either been the initial trigger for tinnitus, or veteran tinnitus sufferers who think Otomize has made it worse.
I'm undecided.
I'm well aware that with millions of tinnitus sufferers out there, it's quite possible it's the internet doing its usual thing of amplifying something that probably doesn't exist. Check out this very forum - as I say, I'm unsure what to think.
Most posters state it's the neomycin component that's the issue.
"Most posters state it's the neomycin component that's the issue." Yes - that's the aminoglycoside element of the product, to my layperson's understanding.
Tinnitus isn't mentioned in some medication packaging as it's difficult if not impossible to quantify it objectively - but it's usually associated with hearing loss, so the advisories which focus on that particular health issue tend to be the ones I direct people to. I apologize if my noggin was filling in some gaps without necessarily explaining the thought process behind the advice being provided.
To clarify, are you saying that some o f the packaging literature does mention tinnitus?
I'm in two minds whether to talk to my doctor tomorrow.
I checked out the mitochondrial mutation that's at risk of hearing loss, that's not my mother's folks. My maternal DNA is H4a1a2 - for any nerds that might be reading.
"Tinnitus isn't mentioned in some medication packaging as it's difficult if not impossible to quantify it objectively - but it's usually associated with hearing loss, so the advisories which focus on that particular health issue tend to be the ones I direct people to. I apologize if my noggin was filling in some gaps without necessarily explaining the thought process behind the advice being provided."
Pat, I owe you an apology. It's only this morning that I've fully understood your post.
Hello Don, I have the same thing in my left ear. For years it has been very dry inside and irritated and very itchy. I then developed Pulsatile tinitus in that ear back in May 2020 and now it comes and goes and I have had long periods of relief. I have also been curious if there is a connection between the dry itchy scaling of that ear and the T ?
I have had very dry itchy eczema like skin in my right ear for about 20 yrs after having a vaccine, which occasionally flares up into an outer ear infection but my tinnitus and pulsatile tinnitus is in my left ear. 🤷♀️ I did use otomize when I got my outer ear infection in my right ear and it cleared it up nicely with no obvious difference to my tinnitus. Sorry I have no advice, just my experience.
I use Otosan, all natural and no effect on my tinnitus. When I had an outer ear infection the Dr gave me Ear Calm, you can buy it over the counter. Otosan is very good.
I was given otomize for a problem in my right ear, pain etc. After using it 5 days I got tinnitus in that ear, never had it before. That was about a year ago and still got it and the original problem.
I'm really sorry to hear that Suzy. At present my tinnitus is constant but bearable, I really wouldn't want anything to make it worse. You've helped me make my mind up.
It is definitely a potential side effect of otomize, this was confirmed by a couple of doctors who were training but an established doctor dismissed it. Good luck with your problems.
Thanks to everybody. I'll try to speak to my doctor on Monday. Perhaps I'll try Otosan. I'm going to paste in the relevant section from the link that Pat posted.
Aminoglycoside antibiotics
There is a small group of very specialised, powerful antibiotics that can be ototoxic – in other words they can damage the inner ear. This damage can cause hearing loss and a small number of the affected people develop tinnitus as a consequence of this hearing loss. This group is known as the aminoglycoside antibiotics and includes streptomycin and gentamicin. These drugs are not available as tablets, syrups or other oral preparations and are generally given by injection in hospital for severe, life threatening infections. Damage to the ear only occurs when the amount of the drug in the blood stream exceeds certain levels. For this reason the level is closely monitored by regular blood tests. However, there are certain conditions such as renal failure when the level of the drug can rise unpredictably and allow dangerous levels to be reached. In these rare circumstances, tinnitus can occur.
Aminoglycosides are also a component of some ear drops. These ear drops are only available on prescription: all the ear drops that can be purchased at a pharmacy without a prescription in the United Kingdom do not contain aminoglycosides. Although there is a theoretical risk, aminoglycoside ear drops do not generally cause ear damage and ear specialists are happy to prescribe them in reasonably short courses. However, any patient who is worried about taking such drops should discuss the matter with their doctor – there may be an alternative.
Interesting to read about this. I had an ear infection this summer, after a couple of weeks when I felt it was not going to go away on its own I got an antibiotic prescription, when that didn't work a couple of weeks further on, I went back and the nurse practitioner prescribed otomise - THAT was when the tinnitus began and I've remained with that and a blocked ear ever since. I did wonder if the otomise was the trigger for the tinnitus ....
My tinnitus worsened greatly when I used Otomize. I would NEVER use it again. My advice is therefore to avoid this spray - it was definitely ototoxic in my experience. Using Earol olve oil spray (available over the pharmacy counter or on Amazon) relieves itching -but will not sort infections.
My itchy ears have been bothering me for several years, the left has recently been far more bothersome though. The doctor says I have an infection. "Otitis externa". I understand why he's prescribed the Otomize. I believe he thinks it's the infection causing the tinnitus.
Otherwise he was rather blunt about tinnitus: how common it is, it's not fully understood and there isn't really a cure.
My father had the same issue with his ears when he was my age. No tinnitus that I'm aware of, but he did become almost completely deaf in his final years.
I had really itchy ears beginning of year. Got steadily worse. Were so bad were waking me up at night. Couldn’t see Doc face to face due to lock downs etc. So no one ever looked to see if anything there. Was prescribed Otomise. Sorted out the itchiness. No tinnitus at the time. Sometimes when has returned - not at same levels. Find squirt of erol helps. As I found out later about it being a possible trigger but my tinnitus didn’t start until July so don’t think it was related.
I went to the ENT clinic with itchy ears a year ago and was prescribed otomize. Within 2 days of use the tinnitus started and I've had ever since then. The specialist said it was not possible to be the cause since I have intact eardrums suggesting the medication cant pass to the middle / inner ear, however the sudden onset of tinnitus coincided perfectly with use of otomize and so that appears to be the culprit in my eyes. I would certainly never risk taking that drug again knowing that its key ingredient is ototoxic (ie highly toxic to the inner ear)
I had a 10 minute chat with my doctor again today. I explained my worries about the prescribed Otomize. He was adamant that it couldn't make tinnitus worse, but despite his repeated reassurances, I'm really not convinced. Usually I would agree with him to "follow the science" and ignore forum chatter, but in this case - no, I'm reading far too many people on here cursing the stuff. To be fair to the fellow he did suggest I might be happier to try Otosan first. But we didn't discuss "Ear Calm"...
I've just discovered this evening that "Ear Calm" is manufactured by TEVA - the same company that makes Otomize. But Ear Calm doesn't contain aminoglycoside. It's sold over the counter in places like Boots, though you need to have a chat with the pharmacist first.
Hi Don, I've just been reading through this thread as I've had a very similar experience recently. Admittedly, my tinnitus began before using Otomize, but even so, I believe it's making my ear problems worse. I originally went to the doctor about the tinnitus and - after looking in my ear - she said I had a 'otitis externa', but that it was unrelated to the tinnitus. She prescribed me Otomize for the otitis externa (and said it might help with the tinnitus but probably won't). It hasn't, but additionally... In the week I've been using it, I've felt pain in my ear that wasn't there before. And also there's a kind of blocked feeling. So, I've stopped using it! Do you also have stiffness in your neck? Because I also have that... (Sometimes suggests arthritis, but tests for that came back negative). Anyway, I'm gonna go back to my doctor. Sorry I can't offer much wisdom, but perhaps we can update each other on how we get on?!
Hi Phega, I didn't use the Otomize in the end. I bought some "EarCalm" from Boots - it's made by the same company but it's minus the ototoxic ingredient (Neomycin). It has the same dosage regime, 3 squirts a day for a week.
It's more or less dealt with the itchy ear problem, although it's only been since I finished the week long course that my ear has finally calmed down and stopped itching. For much of the time I was taking it my ear really bothered me, in fact it felt even itchier plus rather "full" as you described. That's just because your ear is full of gunk I think.
My tinnitus is much the same sadly - but I don't think it's any worse which I'm thankful for.
I have arthritis virtually everywhere... including my shoulders, ribcage and neck.
Hi Don - Yes they do seem to insist on this, but the coincidence seemed too great for me to ignore. I had had itchy ears for several weeks and no tinnitus only for it to occur with immediate effect on using Otomize. I then found others online at the time who seemed to have had similar experiences. There is another solution called Earcalm that also treats outer ear infections but doesnt contain neomycin, the ototoxic ingredient. You may want to look into that as a potential alternative.
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